Confessions of a 20-something podcaster

Radio Today continues its podcasting series, talking with those who are commissioning, creating and producing them. This week we talk to Phoebe Parsons, who’s the driving force behind Confessions of a Twenty Something Train Wreck.

Parsons is a story-teller and was the inaugural winner of NOVA Entertainment’s ‘Podquest’; an initiative to discover and support new and emerging podcasters.

Until she entered the competition, the Queenslander had never been involved in podcasting but thought she might have something to offer, focussing on her own life disasters, mishaps and ‘train-wreck’ moments.

“Every time I caught up with my girlfriends, they were always blown away by how many complicated and dramatic stories I had to tell. All these crazy things kept happening to me and I was like ‘I need to tell someone about this’.

“Because I am a writer, and have been for about 10 years, I tried to write a book about it, but it didn’t really translate.”

Now in its fourth season, Confessions is Phoebe’s life in a nutshell with very few topics are out of bounds, although she admits some friends are a little hesitant to open up.

“They are mostly ‘Phoebe Stories’ but I do have a couple of girl-friends that I call on.  Some of them are hesitant and some have said ‘no’ and that’s totally fine.

“We have a guest on with every episode. The next one has a guy on, which is very, very funny. We’ve never had a guy on before.”

With a background in journalism and P.R, Parsons says she finds the writing process liberating, even though it can be a time-consuming exercise.

“I script a lot of the podcast. I record a conversation with a girlfriend or a guest, which will normally run an hour, then it’s broken up into chunks. Then I build a narrative and script around the blocks of conversation so that there is a cohesive theme throughout the episode.

“I think I’ve found the best of both worlds.  I do love to talk and I do love to write. So, this is a kind of happy medium.  You never know where a conversation is going to take you, but I can reign it in with the writing.

“Each episode probably takes 7-to-8 hours in total.  And I do have several jobs. Time management is not one of my greatest skills, but that’s OK.”

As for the future, Phoebe is willing to see where it takes her. Merchandise has been produced and there’s always an option of turning “Confessions” into a book or maybe something on the small screen.

Confessions of a Twenty Something Train Wreck is released every Tuesday and is available for download here.

You can follow Phoebe on Twitter at @phoebeacp – or on Instagram @twentysomethingtrainwreck